Monthly Meetings
Meetings of the San Diego Civil War Round Table
January Program
On Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 7:30 pm the SDCWRT will hold its 293rd meeting at Palisades Presbyterian Church, 6301 Birchwood St., San Diego, CA 92120. This month will also see the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the SDCWRT.
Civil War Pistol
This month, long time SDCWRT member Phil Binks will be presenting “Civil War Weapons, Part 2”. In March of last year, Mr. Binks presented “Long Arms of the Civil War” and this year, he is returning to present about pistols and other small arms of the Civil War as well as their history and development.
December 2010 Meeting
A Scene at the December Social
By Travis Fuqua with Photographs by Travis Fuqua
On December 16, 2010, the San Diego Civil War Round Table had its annual social event. Members as well as their family and friends attended the joyous event. There was a full dinner with a main course of turkey with dressing and mashed potatoes. There were several salad dishes and dessert dishes which several members brought.
The dinner was highlighted by member Karen Hasman and her women’s barbershop quartet the California Note Catchers. The group sang several holiday songs and at the end, the audience joined in singing tunes such as “Jingle Bells”.
The California Note Catchers
At the end, there was a gift exchange, but done in the manner of “white elephant”, with members exchanging such wonderful items such as umbrellas, bugles, and empty bottles of whisky. In addition, all guests received a book as a present courtesy of the SDCWRT.
In all, the event was a very joyous end to the year for the San Diego Civil War Round Table. The SDCWRT would like to extend its gratitude to all who contributed food, gifts, and time as well as the California Note Catchers for their wonderful performance.
NOTICE: IMPORTANT CHANGE IN DECEMBER SCHEDULE
Because of a scheduling discrepancy with Palisades Presbyterian Church this year’s Christmas Social is being moved from Wednesday December 15, 2010 to Thursday December 16, 2010.
The time has not changed and the location is still the same.
This will be the 292nd Meeting of the San Dido Civil War Round Table at Palisades Presbyterian Church, 6301 Birchwood St., San Diego, CA 92120.
We apologize for any inconvenience, but we were just as surprised as anyone else. We are still looking forward to seeing one and all for what we believe will be fun night with good food and good friends. Don’t forget to bring any guest you wish, but please make sure they know of the change. Also remember a White Elephant Gift for our Gift Exchange.
Once again we apologize for the change and if you are unable to attend your Round Table Officers wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays.
November 2010 Meeting
By Travis Fuqua
On November 17, 2010, Pedro Garcia presented “Men Really Do Go Mad”. In this presentation, Mr. Garcia asked: “Can men really go mad?” and answered this question by showing the madness of the events which took place in Washington, D.C. and Charleston, S.C. in the couple of months after the election of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1860.
The question of slavery had been contained through compromise until the admission of California in 1850 undid the even balance between slave and free states in the Senate with the free states gaining a majority. Throughout the 1850s, there arose an ever increasingly debate over slavery and its expansion and future in the Sectional Crisis. The South felt increasingly encircled and pushed harder for states’ rights in the face of their increasing minority. They did not see the Union as permanently binding. The North did, however. With the election of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1860, the Sectional Crisis reached its peak with the South fearing a Federal war on slavery by the Republican majority. As a response, South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860 beginning the Secession Crisis.
When the Secession Crisis began in December, neither President James Buchanan nor President-Elect Abraham Lincoln had any real plans with which to handle the crisis. Buchanan’s goal was to keep the Union together long enough until Lincoln’s inauguration in March of 1861, while Lincoln did not take the problem seriously as he was not yet President.
Earlier in his career, Lincoln had consented to the expansion of slavery to save the Union, but by the time of his campaign, he opposed its expansion but not yet its abolition. When South Carolina began to move for secession in late-November of 1860, Lincoln remained a recluse in Springfield. Many thought Lincoln was foolish for ignoring the impending disaster. When he was asked about the deteriorating Union, Lincoln referred people to his campaign speeches, but they had been designed to enflame the enemies of slavery and did nothing to slow the dissolution of the Union. In part, the Secession Crisis was fueled by Lincoln’s inaction.
President Buchanan, on the other hand, represented the failed politics of compromise. He was a famous diplomat and was skilled at compromise, but was ill-equipped for harsh politics. While trying to please everyone through compromise like a good diplomat, he pleased no one. In the final four months of his term, Buchanan’s distinguished career was forever tarnished by his inaction during the Secession Crisis. As people became increasingly unhappy with him, Buchanan became worried since he had never before been attacked in public and did not take criticism well. As mentioned before, Buchanan eagerly looked forward to Lincoln’s coming inauguration as deliverance from the increasingly unpleasant office.
Buchanan first heard news of the crisis from John Lane Gardner who was in charge of Charleston Harbor. Gardner wrote he was being harassed by locals and requested re-enforcements. Buchanan then called his Secretary of War, John Buchanan Floyd (of no relation to the then president, but the son of the Virginia governor who ended the Nat Turner Rebellion), to assess the situation. Floyd told Buchanan there was nothing to fear. Floyd then dismissed Gardner.
It was later discovered Floyd was one of the most disloyal men in the government. Floyd’s corruption was soon discovered and he was forced to resign on December 29, 1860 when Buchanan refused to order the abandonment of Ft. Sumter in Charleston. An audit soon began and it was discovered that Floyd had sent 115,000 muskets to the South, or 1/6 of the national arsenal. While it was legal to give these things to the southern states since they were still part of the Union, given that they were becoming increasingly hostile to the Federal Government, it was an exceedingly imprudent thing to do. The audit also showed Floyd redeployed much of the Federal Regular Army to the West, leaving the North without defense. Floyd was later indicted in the following month and appeared in court in March of 1861, but the charges were dropped. He later fled to the Confederacy where he became a brigadier general in Virginia, but died of ill health in 1863.
Despite Floyd’s claims of calm in South Carolina, Buchanan still worried and called a meeting of his Cabinet. The Cabinet gave him diverse responses and in the following months, almost all of the Cabinet would resign or be given new positions.
There were some in the Cabinet who supported Federal interests in the South. The Attorney General, Jeremiah Black, was the most capable Cabinet member and served as Buchanan’s conscience. He convinced the President to send relief to the South. Black later finished Buchanan’s term as Secretary of State beginning in mid-December of 1860 after Lewis Cass resigned. He was succeeded as Attorney General by Edwin Stanton. The Secretary of State, Lewis Cass, at 78 was feeble and less capable, but resigned when Buchanan failed to protect Federal interests in the South. The Postmaster General, Joseph Holt, despite his southern roots, was a staunch unionist. He was made Secretary of War in January of 1861 after Floyd’s resignation. He was replaced as Postmaster General by Horatio King. Secretary of the Navy, Isaac Toucey, was the only member of Buchanan’s Cabinet to stay in his position all four years, and as a constitutional lawyer argued against secession, but also argued against coercion.
The southerners in the Cabinet were not eager to send re-enforcements to the South. The Secretary of War’s position has already been mentioned. Secretary of the Treasury, Howell Cobb of Georgia, who began as a unionist and disliked slavery, decided the days of the Union were numbered and resigned on December 8, 1860 to help found the Confederacy. His successor Philip F. Thomas resigned in January of 1861 after failing to gain a bond for the deteriorating Union. His successor John A. Dix strongly supported the North, however. The Interior Secretary, Jacob Thomson of Mississippi, sided with the secessionists and resigned in January of 1861 to help the Confederacy.
Buchanan has often been portrayed as a southern sympathizer. Buchanan’s Cabinet, after all, was divided with an inclination to the South. Buchanan himself had won fourteen of the fifteen slave states in 1856, but few free states. Finally, he did not use coercion to keep the Union together.
Through a closer examination, however, it can be seen that Buchanan was not completely pro-South. In many ways, he was simply stalling until Lincoln’s inauguration. Buchanan viewed the Secession Crisis as Lincoln and the Republicans’ fault. In addition, Buchanan realized he had a small army since Floyd had redeployed it. Buchanan also believed the Secession Crisis was a problem for Congress—since before the Civil War, the Executive branch was seen as weaker than the Legislative branch. Congress, however, did nothing beyond argue and combined with the Executive’s inaction, the crisis continued.
There were a couple of efforts by the politicians to save the Union. The southern-made Crittenden Compromise, which would have made constitutional amendments and Congressional resolutions on slavery which would have undermined the Missouri Compromise and given favor to the South, failed as did the Virginia Peace Convention which was composed of many elderly statesmen who said nothing new in the rapidly developing crisis.
By the beginning of 1861, the Union’s disintegration continued and as Mr. Garcia will show in his presentation to be given in February of 2011, the nation’s eyes turned to Charleston, S.C.
NOVEMBER PROGRAM
Alexis de Toqueville wrote, ” There are two things a democratic people will always find very difficult, to begin a war
and to end it.” The forces at work in the five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the firing of Fort Sumter is the topic of Pedro Garcia’s program tonight.
Pedro is a longtime SDCWRT member and two time winner of POT, Pedro will seek to show what America was in 1860, and what it was becoming.
October 2010 Meeting
Rich Marcell Presenting with a Picture of the Young Lee
Written by Travis Fuqua with Photographs by Bob Batten
On October 20, 2010, Rich Marcell presented “Another Look at Robert E. Lee”. Mr. Marcell’s purpose in giving this presentation was not to give another full biography or try to change one’s opinions on General Lee, but to give a new look at his character and endeavor to portray him not in a hagiography or to vilify him, but to place him in a realistic light.
General Robert Edward Lee was born in Virginia on January 19, 1807 to Major General Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee III, a hero of the Revolution and Anne Hill Carter. Major General Henry Lee was famous for his eulogy of the immortal General Washington in 1799 when he said: “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen”. Young Robert’s father died in disgrace when he was eleven in 1818. With the help of the infamous South Carolina statesman John C. Calhoun, Robert E. Lee was granted admission to West Point in 1824 and began his studies there in 1825. Lee did well and graduated in 1829 second in his class and became a brevet Second Lieutenant in the Cops of Engineers.
Lee’s mother died later that year. On June 30, 1831, Lee married Mary Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and thus Lee joined the family of the immortal General Washington. Initially, the bride’s father was reluctant to give his daughter away to the son of the disgraced Major General Henry Lee, but he later consented. Lee continued as a junior officer until the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846. He served along with General Winfield Scott in his landing at Vera Cruz where he distinguished himself throughout the campaign and was promoted to brevet Colonel with the permanent rank of Captain. It was here that Lee also worked with the future General Grant under Scott as well as many other junior officers who would later distinguish themselves in the Civil War. While with Scott in Mexico, Lee learned the art of being a gentleman and officer.
At the same time, Colonel Lee did acknowledge slavery as an evil, but as typical for many of his class and time, only saw the inhumanity of it for the masters but never deeply considered the immense suffering of the slaves. In a letter to his wife in 1856, he stated: “I think it however a greater evil to the white man than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former.” It has been claimed with these words and similar ones that Lee was anti-slavery, but his views were hardly as such and were similar to those of his class and he still believed that bondage was necessary to build them morally, socially, and politically. Given his deep Christian faith, Lee also believed that slavery existed at the will of God and his will would end it as well. He also felt the North had no authority to bring an end to slavery.
When the secession crisis began in December of 1860, Lee continued to support the Union and felt secession was revolution against the Founding Fathers. In March of 1861, Lee accepted his promotion to Colonel by Lincoln. General Scott, leader of the Federal Army, was eager to have Lee in a leading position for the Union. After the Battle of Ft. Sumter, Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861. At the same time, Scott was eager to have Lee made a Major General, but upon hearing the news of Virginia’s secession, Lee declined Scott’s offer as he could not fight against his home state since Virginia was his “country”. Thus, Lee resigned from the Federal Army on April 20, 1861.
Lee had relatives in the Federal Army and did not advise them to resign the Army on account of him, but they did, nonetheless. The newspapers in Virginia realized how valuable Lee would be to their forces and Lee accepted a command in Virginia on April 23 to command all of Virginia’s military and naval forces. Lee never regretted leaving the Federal Army to fight for Virginia, but he did not harbor any unrealistic optimism about the prospects of the Confederacy. He also realized that the majority of the fighting would be in his home state and the Union would not give up easily.
Mr. Marcell
Early in the War, Lee gained little fame fighting against younger politically appointed officers. Lee came to command an actual army at the Battle of Seven Pines in June of 1862 when Lee and President Davis were observing the battle and when the Confederate leader was killed, Davis appointed him commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. The Army of Northern Virginia had the luxury of stable and competent leadership, unlike the Army of the Potomac, but suffered from poor supplies and other problems. In command, Lee was criticized for being too cautious and out-of-date. Federal General, George McClellan, believed Lee’s appointment worked in the favor of the North. Lee’s fame grew as he managed to halt the Federal advance towards Richmond during the Peninsular Campaign, but failed to destroy McClellan’s army.
As a commander, Lee did not hold any councils of war and did not interfere with his subordinates which may have been detrimental since he was criticized for being too kind and amiable when it was not always to his or the army’s advantage. Lee’s reason for his relaxed command was his deep religiosity in that he believed the fate of his army to be in the Hands of God. Lee knew his weaknesses and instead placed his faith in the immortality of General Washington and God. Lee told his sons to “Do your duty in all things.” General “Stonewall” Jackson said Lee was the only man whom he would follow blind.
When the war drew to an end and the Army of Northern Virginia was defeated, Grant offered Lee the ability to surrender. When Lee enquired as to Grant’s terms, Grant said that he had but one—Confederate men could not take up arms against the Union again. Lee was determined not to surrender unless there was a guarantee of peace. Grant knew that Lee was very clever, but could not legally offer him peace. Lee also had the option of engaging in a guerilla war with Grant, but decided against it as it would have taken the war to the people. Lee decided to surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. After the surrender, Lee issued a farewell address to the Army of Northern Virginia where he said that as a Christian people, the South must accept their situation.
Not long after the War, Lee came to be idolized in the South. There is a 12-ton statue of him in Richmond with the simple inscription of “Lee”. Lee himself also sought to write about his experiences in the War before his death. Confederate General Jubal A. Early said Lee was the best general of the war, better than Grant, and Virginia was the most important theatre of the war. Early’s statements led to the foundation of the “Lost Cause” in the South where the South had not been fairly matched with the North since they had superior leadership, but were simply overwhelmed by the North. Lee became the hero of this “Lost Cause”. Lee thus came to have a status in the South second only to that of the immortal General Washington. It has only been in recent times that Lee has been examined more realistically. While Lee was a great figure, he nonetheless fought against the legal government of the United States to uphold this country’s most reprehensible institution.
Mr. Marcell ended his lecture by quoting about Lee: “Noble he was. Noble he became.”
September 2010 Meeting
Written by Travis Fuqua. Edited by Gregory Wilson. Photographs by Bob Batten
On September 15, 2010, the San Diego Civil War Round Table announced the winner of the Presentation of the Year for 2009-2010. The winner was Mark Shapiro for his October 2009 presentation: “The Curious Case of Ambrose Bierce”. The SDCWRT extends its sincere gratitude all presenters for their fabulous presentations.
Dr. Shapiro Presenting
This evening, Mark Shapiro presented “Antebellum Fear: Nat Turner Uprising” about the 1831 Virginia slave rebellion led by the slave Nat Turner. This was the largest slave rebellion in history and had the greatest political consequences.
Nat Turner was born October 2, 1800 on the plantation of Benjamin and Elizabeth Turner from whom he received his surname. His mother was brought from Africa at the end of the eighteenth century while the slave trade was still legal in the United States. His Father’s origins are unknown since he escaped from the Turner plantation when Nat was young. The Turner Plantation was in Southampton County, Virginia, near the border with North Carolina, not too far removed from the coast in a swampy area. The staple crops were apples, corn, and tobacco. In this county, which was predominantly black with 6,500 whites to 7,700 blacks, the main religion was Methodism, which was something of a paradox for a county with such a ratio of blacks to whites. The early Methodist church spoke out against slavery and called for manumission. However, a general backlash against this Methodist doctrine had arisen in the slave states, and by the time of the Nat Turner uprising, the Methodist church had largely reversed its opinion on slavery.
As a child, Turner was rather precocious and was liked by both his fellow slaves as well as whites. He had several bumps of an unknown origin on his head and chest which according to African tradition meant that he would be a leader. Another mystery of his childhood was the fact he could read, but it is not known how he became literate. It was claimed he was brought a Bible and simply knew how to read it. This literacy, however, from the standpoint of his owners, would have limited his usefulness—as literate slaves traditionally proved somewhat troublesome to their masters. At the age of ten, Nat was moved to the plantation of Benjamin Turner’s son, Samuel, who was a strict disciplinarian. Two years after that, Samuel sent the precocious Nat to the monotony of the fields. When Nat was 21, Samuel Turner hired an overseer to make his plantation more productive in the wake of the Panic of 1819. Nat did not do well with the overseer and was whipped which prompted Nat to run away. Curiously, Nat returned after a month and later claimed that the Holy Spirit had visited him and commanded him to return to his earthly master.
Later Turner married a fellow slave and started a family. Not long after, Samuel Turner died without issue and Nat along with the other property at the plantation were sold. Nat was valued at $400 and his wife at a mere $40, and for the first time in his life, Turner knew his value in the eyes of his white masters. He was sold to the Moore Plantation. Turner was not happy on his new plantation, but was not defiant. Instead, Turner became known in his community and became religious as he claimed to be continually visited by the Holy Spirit. At the time, slaves were still free to worship together which was the closest they came to freedom. In this environment, Turner gained freedom of movement to be an itinerant preacher. Later, Turner supposedly had apocalyptic visions in which he was to have a part. One day, these visions led Nat to approach Moore himself, telling him that slaves should be free. Moore whipped Turner out of fear he would cause unrest amongst the slaves.
In the early nineteenth century, there was an ever-increasing fear of slave rebellion, as the ones that did occur became ever more violent. Some examples include the slave rebellion on the Caribbean island of Saint Domingue which led to the foundation of the nation of Haiti—the first for a slave rebellion to found an independent nation. There had been fears of a similar slave rebellion in the United States, which found itself in an increasingly isolated position as the other nations of the world outlawed slavery. In order to maintain order, the slave masters used the carrot-and-stick method whereby the slaves were given some freedom in return for their happiness but should they act out of order there would be severe repercussions. In addition to the local militias, the Federal government had the power to put an end to slave revolts.
In 1831, Turner was sent to yet another master, Joseph Travis. There was a solar eclipse on August 13, 1831 accompanied by an atmospheric phenomenon. Turner took this eclipse as a sign. The next week on August 21, Turner with some trusted fellow slaves and a few recruits met to discuss a plan for revolt. Turner showed up last to the meeting. The individuals present agreed to assault the county and its seat of Jerusalem and indiscriminately kill all whites along the way, but not to burn or ravish. Since Turner’s group was small, there was little chance of the plan being discovered which had been a shortcoming of many other rebellions.
On the morning of August 22, Turner and his followers proceeded to the Travis Plantation where they killed the entire family. Nat then went to the plantation of his former mistress, Elizabeth Turner, where she was summarily dispatched. Turner and his group continued killing and gaining followers so that soon he had about 60 supporters and visited 15 houses where his group killed 55 people. Not long after Turner began killing, the whites in the area became alerted and by the end of the day the local militia engaged Turner’s force. Nat Turner’s force was defeated and forced to retreat. The governor of Virginia, John Floyd, called for more militia and for whites to evacuate and prepare themselves. The following day, the 23rd, there were further reverses for Turner as his group dwindled under ambush and capture until by the end of the day, Turner was alone. Nat returned to the Travis Plantation where he dug a hole and hid with some provisions.
The retaliation by the whites was exceedingly brutal. Many blacks were killed or tortured on sight regardless of their affiliation with any rebellion. Between 120 and 220 blacks were wantonly slaughtered. On August 28, a proclamation was issued ending the bloodshed. Throughout the South, there continued to be fears of slave rebellions during August and September of that year. Nat Turner was captured on October 30, 1831 and brought to trial on November 5, where he was convicted and sentenced to hang. Nat Turner was executed on November 11, 1831. The retaliation against the blacks did not end as they continued to loose the few rights they had. Free blacks faced increased discrimination. The abolitionists of the north received increased criticism from the South despite the fact they had limited influence there. In fact, the majority of northerners were not in favor of ending slavery, and actually sided with the south until their harsh response to Nat Turner’s uprising. Northerners then began to question the future of slavery. Those northerners were not alone, as some in the South also began question the future of slavery.
In the beginning of 1832, there began an immense battle in the Virginia legislature as to the future of slavery in the state. This great debate was naturally caused by the recent Turner rebellion. Joseph Jefferson Randolph, the grandson of President Jefferson, offered a complicated emancipation plan that not only was lengthy in its process, but also deported the blacks from Virginia, thus ridding the State of Virginia of her blacks. This proposal demonstrated the fear and insecurity the whites felt as a result of Turner’s uprising. Governor Floyd supported this scheme until John C. Calhoun, the famous South Carolina statesman, convinced him otherwise. In fact, there was increased conservatism after the rebellion and there were increased endeavors to support and strengthen the argument for slavery. Slave codes were made more oppressive and abolitionist materials were banned, and if located, burned.
Mr. Cooper Presenting Dr. Shapiro with a Certificate of Appreciation
Surprisingly today, there is little physical evidence of the havoc wreaked in Southampton County during August 1831. Reliable literature on the subject is limited as the contemporary writings taken from an interview with Turner before his execution are heavily laden with white biases. The only physical reminder to the events which unfolded there 169 years ago is a road sign near the area reading: “Blackhead Signpost Road”. This was a site where a slave was killed during Turner’s rebellion and his head placed on a pike as a gruesome deterrent to others who might wish to follow in Nat Turner’s footsteps. Nat Turner’s legacy today mainly lives on in the actions the South took after his rebellion which led the nation further down the path to the Civil War.
SEPTEMBER PROGRAM
On Wednesday September 15th at 7:30 pm the SDCWRT will hold its 289th meeting at Palisades Presbyterian Church, 6301 Birchwood St., San Diego, CA 92120.
This month’s speaker will be one of our own, Mark Shapiro. Mark has spoken to us in the past and each and every time it has been one our best programs, and this time will be no different. Be prepared for an educational treat.
On August 21, 1848, a Virginia slave named Nat Turner launched an insurrection that would shake the antebellum South to its core. Over the course of the rebellion, 56 white people, including men, women, and children were murdered. Turner was subsequently captured and was, along with 55 accused accomplices, put to death. In a paroxysm of fear and reprisal, more than 200 black people uninvolved in the rebellion were beaten, tortured and killed. These events and the far-reaching consequences will be explored in “Antebellum Fear: Nat Turner’s Rebellion”
August 2010 Meeting
By Travis Fuqua
On August 18, 2010, Barbara Bruff Hemmingsen presented “The Western Theatre of the Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga, 19-20 September 1863”. Since it would have been impossible to enumerate the entire order of battle and all the maneuvers, Mrs. Hemmingsen instead took a more precise approach by focusing on one particular regiment—the 125th Ohio and Company A in particular. Mrs. Hemmingsen chose this in particular because her ancestor Joseph Bruff was a captain and then major and finally a lieutenant colonel in this regiment throughout the war and she has many of his letters describing the battles. It is from these letters that Mrs. Hemmingsen drew much of the content of her presentation.
There was first an overview of the Western Theatre in the beginning of the War which is often neglected. By the beginning of 1863, the western two-thirds of Tennessee were in Federal hands and soon General William Rosecrans, had designs on the capture of Chattanooga and the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Chattanooga was an important city to capture as it served as a central supply base for Confederate forces. Thus Rosecrans began to move his army towards Chattanooga and Captain Bruff describes the march through the Cumberland Valley with vivid attention to the scenery, uncommon for soldiers marching continuously.
General Rosecrans faced an tactical disadvantage as very few of the officers under his command had been to West Point and thus knew little about army maneuvers. As Rosecrans neared Chattanooga, Confederate General Braxton Bragg left the city and headed to the south on September 8th. The next day, Rosecrans began pursuit and over the next week the armies moved into position near the Chickamauga Creek. The Battle began on September 19th and the Federal XIV Corps fortified on the Kelly Farm and the Confederates moved along La Fayette Road. For the details of the forthcoming battle, Mrs. Hemmingsen relied on Peter Cozzen’s “This Terrible Sound” (1992, University of Illinois Press). In addition, only certain parts of the action and that concerning her ancestor were mentioned. Throughout September 19th, there was action along the Kelly Farm and La Fayette Road.
At the end of the day, the Federal Army lost its numerical superiority when a train of reinforcements from Confederate General Longstreet’s army in Virginia arrived in the evening and prepared for battle the next day. This move had surprised Federal commanders who did not anticipate the reinforcements. There were now 65,000 Confederate Soldiers to the Federal 60,000. At nine o’clock the following morning, fierce fighting broke out again at the Kelly Farm.
The fighting was so fierce that Major General Rosecrans began to demand rapidity in the Federal maneuvers, but there arose a miscommunication and the Federal lines began to fall out of order. Many blame Federal Brigadier General Thomas Wood for being resentful towards Rosecrans and acting on purpose, but the accusation, although repeated several times has limited contemporary support. The miscommunication resulted in General Wood moving his men and a hole was made in the Federal lines of which General Longstreet took advantage and advanced his men through the Federal lines and soon some of the Federal forces were surrounded, in disorder, and then began to retreat towards Chattanooga by noon. Other federal forces in the area also soon retreated. Other Federal forces, including the 125th Ohio did very well and managed to push the Confederate forces back against odds at the Dyer Farm for which the 125th was famously commended. In addition, 25,000 Federal soldiers fought 50,000 Confederate soldiers for seven hours at Snodgrass Hill for which there is a plaque and monument today to the monumental Federal feat which has been compared the famous Ancient Greek Battle of Thermopylae.
By the end of the day, only half of the Federal Army remained to fight the entire Confederate force as the other half had retreated or had become casualties. At dusk, the remaining Federal forces were ordered to retreat to Chattanooga effectively making the Battle a Confederate victory. There were 17,000 casualties on both sides making this amongst the bloodiest battles. The Federal Army retreated back to Chattanooga where they were placed under siege by Confederate forces for the next two months where they had an especially disadvantageous position where the Confederates were able to fire down into the city upon them. General Rosecrans’ career never recovered from the Battle.
AUGUST PROGRAM
On Wednesday August 18 at 7:30 pm the SDCWRT will hold its 288th meeting at Palisades Presbyterian Church, 6301 Birchwood St., San Diego, CA 92120.
This month’s speaker will be one of our own members, Barbara Hemmingsen.
Over the last 149 years a great deal of attention has been paid to the Civil War Battles in the Eastern Theater. But we now recognize, thanks to the efforts of Pedro Garcia and others, that Union victories in the Western Theater and along the Mississippi river were equally, if not more, important in the ultimate outcome of this dreadful conflict.
Battle of Chickamauga
Barbara Bruff Hemmingsen’s great, great grandfather, Joseph Bruff, participated in all of the major battles and campaigns in 1863-1864 (Chickamauga, GA; Chattanooga, TN; March to Atlanta and Battle for Atlanta, GA; Franklin, TN; and Nashville, TN). He left behind numerous letters describing the activities of the Army of the Cumberland and of the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry of which he was an officer. Drawing on these letters, and the accounts of various historians, Barbara will describe in separate lectures each of these battles or campaigns that ultimately brought the states between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River back into the Union and freed the slaves. She will start with the Battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 1863, the only Union defeat in the series.
Also don’t forget we will be voting on the Best Presentation of the Year at this meeting.